Wayne Gretzky was the Pied Piper who everybody followed to hockey rinks in California when Edmonton Oilers’ owner Peter Pocklington sold his prized possession to the Los Angeles Kings exactly 30 years ago and now No. 99 wants to spread the gospel to the Chinese people.

He’s been named an ambassador the Kunlun Star hockey team in Beijing which plays in the KHL.

“We’ve been working on this for close to two years with hockey academies … Mike Keenan (former Kunlun coach) and the owner brought this to me,” said Gretzky. “The Chinese people and business community have rallied around ice hockey because they’re hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics and they want to have a good showing. The owner has built these academies — one in Boston, one in Toronto — for Chinese kids. And my son (Ty) and I are going over to to China and it’s around an NHL game. We’re going to see about building ice rinks there.”

The Chinese market is untapped, but there’s certainly interest.

“Somebody told me that 36-million people watched Game 6 of the finals last year between Pittsburgh and Nashville. That’s amazing. Good on the NHL for recognizing that,” said Gretzky, who generated a lot of interest in hockey in the U.S. sunbelt cities after he was traded to the Kings — California, then Florida and Nashville — with kids talking their parents into playing the game.

Here’s what Gretzky had to say on a few other topics as he leaves for the PGA championship to see his daughter Paulina’s significant other Dustin Johnson for a few days:

On Hall of Famer Stan Mikita, who passed away Tuesday at 78 years of age:

“He was one of my dad’s favourite players, and the very first NHL game I ever played, I had to go against Stan Mikita. That was pretty cool. Did I win it (the faceoff)? I dunno. I didn’t win too many.”

“He was a special guy, not too many people in our game have had the most penalty minutes, then won the Lady Byng, then won the scoring race and Hart trophies. He was a big part of bringing the curved stick to hockey. The stick had too big a curve for me. I couldn’t wear the (big) helmet. I looked too heavy.”

On whether he sides with Bobby Orr who says hockey kids shouldn’t be going year-round, that they should be taking summers off to play other sports:

“When I was 12, 13, 14 years old, I played ball and lacrosse and did track and field. All those sports helped me be a better player. There’s an imbalance because some kids can’t afford to play in the summer time and feel they get left behind. That’s not true. The kids who play soccer and lacrosse … that helps their hockey.”

On the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and how fans haven’t caught on yet:

“I played in the 1977 world junior and we had 1,200 at the Montreal Forum. Now when there’s a world junior game with Canada there’s 17,000 people there. This won’t happen overnight.”

On his relationship with the late Ivan Hlinka:

“I played against him a bit and I got to know him at the ’98 Olympics when the Czechs stole our gold medal (laughing). Losing is so gut-wrenching, but it was unreal for Czech hockey, and as their coach, he was a big part of it.”

On NHLers playing at the 2022 Winter Olympics, too — being hosted in Beijing — after they didn’t go to South Korea this past winter:

“I’ve made no secret they should be there. I’m a huge backer, it rallies the country,” he said. “The players love to play in it, and hopefully, the league and the union come to an agreement.”

On the 30th anniversary of his trade Aug. 9 from the Oilers to Los Angeles:

“I really don’t talk about it much. It’s a part of life, a part of history. First it’s 10 years, then it’s 25 years, now it’s 30. I’m sure I’ll get asked the same questions 35 years from now,” he said. “Everybody knows what transpired. It was a much of a surprise to me as everybody else.”

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